The French Garden

This is where you would least expect it. Make your way out to The French Garden and you’d probably think you were lost. If you have the correct directions, chances are, you’re not. It’s a nice little place amidst the warehouses and the factories in that area of Downtown where you probably do not venture out to unless you have business there, or of course, if you want to eat lunch at The French Garden.

You’d expect the place to be French fare. But nothing stood out as being exclusively French. Or maybe it was because I was able to pronounce everything on the menu. Whatever it was, it was a good lunch at a good price. The French Garden opens for lunch only. I don’t think you’d want to eat dinner in this area anyway. Okay, I exaggerate the shady-ness of the area. But it’s a great place for lunch. You can sit out in the sun if you’d like or go over to the shaded patio or maybe even indoors. Well, to be honest, I don’t know if indoor sitting is available but considering they got the building to themselves, I assumed they did. Anyway, the menu consists of a bunch of salads, sandwiches, and pastas. They have some meat dishes as well.

I had the steak sandwich and enjoyed it. You got yourself some cuts of steak in there along with onions, greens, and some dijon mustard on a toasted French Baguette! I loved that combo of the steak and the dijon mustard, and the toasty-ness of the bread made it better. ‘Twas good. ‘Twas satisfying. If I knew French I would have said something in French but oh well.

There are plenty of tables at The French Garden, the food is good, and the price is generous. It’s close to USC so Trojans should check this out. I think the 10-15 minute drive here for lunch is worth it. It’s a good alternative to the corridor of fast food establishments on Figueroa and it sure beats the food on campus. Valet parking is available so you don’t have to worry about looking for parking space unlike the rest of Downtown and I believe it’s complimentary. The French Garden is something you should add to your “to-try” lists if you haven’t done so already.